Bristol construction crew finds human skeleton

BRISTOL, Tenn. - Bristol police are releasing few details about city workers finding a skeleton Monday morning, but a forensic team is helping with the investigation.

Bristol, Tenn., Police Department Detective Capt. Tim Eads said workers from a city construction crew found the remains in the area of 212 Blackley Road around 11:20 a.m.

"The initial examination appears to indicate the remains are human," states a press release from the department.

"The investigation is in the earliest stages at this time, therefore we do not have any further details concerning this matter," the press release stated.

Eads said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and a team from the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center are assisting in the investigation.

Meanwhile, Sullivan County officials are still mum on the identity of skeletal remains found in a wooded area off Island Road in November.

Timesnews.net reported in December that a Roanoke woman claims the skeleton is that of her brother, missing since Mother's Day 2005.

A hunter found the remains, which a UT forensic team determined were those of a white male, age 18 to 45, who was wearing pants with a 33-inch waist and 31-inch inseam and a 36-inch belt that had an extra hole punched at 33 inches.

Investigators said the man was wearing size 11 to 13 lace-up brown work boots and glasses.

Detectives were also looking for a black 1977 Ford F-150 long bed truck with heavy rust and primer spots that may have been in the area of Interstate 81, Highway 394 within the last two years and could be connected to the missing man in Sullivan County.